Gold fever! It's what drew thousands of men to California in 1849 and it still sparks student excitement and dreams of wealth today! ...

History books (& Hollywood) have often depicted Native Americans in very stereotypical and often degrading roles. The changing  of Chris...

We've been without a social studies textbook for YEARS so I've always had to supplement my history curriculum. (Although I had to r...

It's always the hands-on activities that we remember about school. For me, I remember climbing to the top of a ladder in second grade, ...

After students have learned about the regions of California, we connect each region to its natural resources and which Indian tribes had acc...

If you live in California, you know the beauty and diversity of our state. Luckily, my husband is always up for an adventure and he gets jus...

The important thing about writing is. . . having a strong model to emulate! I love reading well-written picture books to my class, as we lea...

California, ho! The rush to California was a critical part of California's history, even before the discovery of gold. Learning why ...

After teaching fourth grade for the past 20 years (!), I was getting a little tired of assigning (& reading) a typical California missio...

Memorizing vocabulary lists. . . blech! As my students read, they write words on sticky notes: words they are unsure of, feel are import...